Annu Yadav is a California-based painter, sculptor, and textile artist. Growing up in India, she was surrounded by a deeply layered culture that has inspired her art today, through its vibrant visual aesthetics, and its complex socio-political environment. Her paintings and wearable sculptures explore the feminine–from the suppression of female voices and oppressive social structures to the resulting inner strength and endurance that is needed to navigate a patriarchal world. Using imagery drawn from Indian folk art, surrealism, and cubism, Yadav creates solemn moments in her work, inviting the viewer into introspective contemplation. Her fascination with the human form began through her wearable art, then evolved as she transitioned into bold, paintings infused with a saturated palette and rich cultural and historical motifs.
Rather than seeking monumental change through art, Yadav is interested in moving the individual, connecting the familiar to the unfamiliar, one person at a time. Her paintings embrace the discomfort that comes with sexuality, seduction, guilt, and the grotesque, unafraid of exposing conflicts–ones internal and emotional in nature, or external ones rooted in societal inequality–and challenging the outdated binary notions embedded in this transcultural era.
Yadav has exhibited both nationally and internationally and works both as an artist and a designer in Los Angeles.
I’m a California-based visual artist who grew up in India. My paintings and wearable sculptures examine feminine existence, exploring its temptations, limitations, and complexities. This narrative tension stems from a love-and-hate relationship with India’s deeply layered culture and the treatment of women. Growing up, I found that female expression was highly subdued. And as far as a woman’s suffering is concerned, a lot remains tolerable.
My work examines the social, political, and cultural challenges faced by women, deep inner strength & contemplation of the feminine. Drawing inspiration from imagination and dreamscapes, my exploration takes shape through animalistic and materialistic motifs, infused with vibrant hues and personalized cultural symbolism. My visual arrangements are singular and isolated, offering a sense of solemnity for the protagonists and the observers. My paintings create scenes where momentary contradictions shatter the illusions of duality and outdated binary notions of East and West. In this transcultural era, my art serves as a catalyst for expanding perceptions, encouraging growth and acceptance, within the complexities of our shared human experience.
